CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy had signing Steven Gerrard in mind for some time, but the process of bringing him to Major League Soccer was completed quickly, over the last three weeks, after the club convinced the Liverpool legend that their aims coincide with his.
The Galaxy announced on Wednesday that Gerrard, a 34-year-old English midfielder considered among the finest players of his generation, would join the club in July once his contract with Liverpool expires.
He follows former Galaxy star David Beckham and current captain Robbie Keane to LA from the English Premier League, and head coach/general manager Bruce Arena sees a lot of similarities among the three.
“They have proven track records,” Arena said in a teleconference with media before Wednesday's news conference at StubHub Center. “They're winners, they're great players, they've been terrific leaders on their clubs previous to coming to the Galaxy, and their qualities speak for themselves.
“Stevie has the characteristics of David Beckham and Robbie Keane. He's a terrific player, he's of great character, great teammate, great leader, so he'll complement our team in a very positive way.”
The Galaxy looked at “three or four players over the last three or four months,” Arena said, and spent a couple of months wooing Gerrard. Arena said he thought it would be a “long shot” to convince the former England national team captain to join the club.
“I think Stevie did his homework, was well aware of Major League Soccer and the Galaxy,” Arena said. “He's been here a number of times, with Liverpool, so he knows Southern California, L.A., and he understands Major League Soccer, so there weren't a whole lot of questions [from him]. On and off over the years, Stevie's always been a name that we've examined as a potential player to come to the LA Galaxy, and over recent months we've obviously pursued the player, had a lot of time with his agent and in discussions with Stevie. Over the last two or three weeks, things came together pretty quickly.”
Club president Chris Klein, a former Galaxy midfielder, said he realized it was possible the “first time we spoke on the phone.”
“All of the business points, you can always get to,” Klein said after the press conference. “Those take time, and those take work, but a player really has to want to come. We have to tell him what we're about. We told him to talk to other players, like David and Robbie. But you really have to hear it in his voice. Once you hear that, I thought we had a real shot.”
Klein said things started coming together right after the Galaxy beat New England in the MLS Cup final on December 7.
“This conversation literally started the night after the championship, Bruce grabbing me and talking with [CEO] Dan Beckerman and seeing how we present this to Mr. [Phil] Anschutz [the Galaxy's owner] ...,” Klein said. “Phil was very quick to approve this for a player like that, so we started the process of talking with Steven and his representatives to see if it was possible.”
Gerrard, who developed in Liverpool's youth system and made his first-team debut with the club in 1998, will be eligible to debut in the Galaxy's home game July 17 against Toronto FC. He could play in a friendly, if one is scheduled, before that: LA has nearly two weeks off after a July 4 league encounter with San Jose.
Arena said he expects Gerrard to have an immediate impact similar to Keane's when he arrived in August 2011.
“His transition, as it is with all players, will not be easy,” Arena said, “but he's English-speaking, which makes transition a little bit easier, he's been to the United States a number of times, knows players on our team, so I think when he steps in, he'll be able to contribute right away. ... I think we're going to see that he's going to come in and make our team better right from the start.”
Where he'll play and how he'll be utilized isn't certain.
“I'm not spending a whole lot of time on that right now,” Arena said. “We have seven months or so until Stevie arrives here in Los Angeles, and we're going to play out the process of our team, see how it moves forward and see how we're ready to utilize Stevie once he gets here.
“In my observations of Stevie over the years, he's not only been a central midfielder, he's played a little bit shaded to the left or the right underneath the strikers, so he can play in a variety of positions in midfield. My best guess is we'll play him closer to the forwards than to our center backs. He's a player with very good attacking qualities, and we want him pushed as close to the goal we can when we can. It will take a little bit of time, but we'll get it figured out by the time Stevie arrives.”
